#pericia

           When I woke up, I knew immediately it was going to be a great day. It was finally time for my date with Charlotte. I ran outside to make sure all the decorations and set up was ready, and as soon as the sun started to set, I grabbed some roses from the garden and ran to Charlotte’s room, knocking on the door. I brushed down some wrinkles in my suit, making sure everything looked perfect.

           “Coming!” Charlotte called from the other side of the door. She opened the door and said, “Per—Wow, flowers. You brought flowers.” She smiled, making me smile.

           I laughed nervously, looking at the flowers. “Yeah, uh… these are for you,” I said, handing them over to her. “They’re also a little bit of a clue for what the date is…”

           “Is my date with Alina?” She laughed.” They’re beautiful, thank you.”

           “Right… so um, follow me.” I walked out of the room and toward the palace doors leading outside to the gardens, Charlotte following behind me.

           “Are we going to the gardens?” She asked.

           “Uh, yeah. We are.”

           “Are you okay?”

           “I’m fine! Totally fine.” Just nervous out of my mind. I probably sounded ridiculous, and it was probably obvious that there was something wrong with me. Why was I so nervous? I’d been on plenty of dates before.

           “Totally?” Char asked quietly.

           I led Charlotte to a part of the garden so far from the palace that you can hardly see the building. “Well… here we are,” I stated. I motioned with my hand to the scene I had set up. There was a small table nestled against a large tree, with lights hanging from its branches. Flowers surrounded the table and chairs and the whole thing looked like something out of a fairytale. At least, I hoped it did. There were also covered trays of food that I had prepared earlier that day.

Charlotte glanced at me and shook her head jokingly. Then she looked at the table and the rest of the setup. “Wow…”

“You like it?” I asked.

She looked at me and smiled. “I love it.”

I grinned. “Great. So, ready to eat?” I pulled out one of the chairs for Char, which she sat in.

“Very ready.”

I sat in the opposite chair and started lifting the lids on the food trays. “I had the palace chefs prepare all the food this afternoon. The rest of the stuff—the table, decorations and all that—I did myself,” I explained.

“You did this?” She asked. “I’m impressed, Percy. But… why? Why go through all that trouble?”

I shrugged and had a hard time meeting her gaze. “When I say I’m going to do something, I go all out. I’m not just going to settle for some cheap boring date. I said I was going to give you a spectacular date, and I… think I delivered.”

“You think? Where’s the confidence?”

I look back up at her, recognizing the challenge in her voice. “Well, I know I did a fantastic job by my standards, but for all I know, you’ve been on dates ten times better than this, so I have no way of knowing how this ranks for you.”

“Percy, you do realize I’m a Six, right?”

“You were a Six. And Sixes could still have awesome dates, couldn’t they? Money and a palace aren’t everything.”

“Well, you’ll be fascinated to know this is my first date. Ever.” She lowers her gaze. “Not totally shocking, I’m sure.”

There’s no way that could be true. I couldn’t believe it. The guys of Belcourt are idiots if they’d never asked Char out before. “Wait… you’ve never been on any date before? How is that even possible?”

She shrugged. “I don’t get out much? I don’t know. My mother wasn’t a fan of me dating, really.”

I smirked. “Really? What would she say if she saw you right now? On a date… with a prince…”

“I don’t think she’d say words, but make some incomprehensible sounds.” She took a sip of her drink. “Poor, poor Mother.”

I laughed. “That’s what she gets for trying to keep someone like you caged in like that.”

“Someone like me? Please, I was practically the most obedient daughter. Up until the end, of course. As you can tell, this is what I like to call my rebellious phase.”

“Well, I hope it’s more than just a phase. I’d be pretty disappointed if you turned boring all of a sudden.”

“Part of me wants to do that out of spite now,” she said.

“Spite? What did I ever do to deserve something like that?” I jokingly put a hand over my chest as though I were offended.

“The question is, what haven’t you done?” She asked, smirking.

“Well, there’s a lot I haven’t done yet.”

“Oh, I seriously doubt that.”

“Really? I could name a few, but that might spoil some ideas for future dates. Not to mention all the… physical things we haven’t done yet.” I raised my eyebrows suggestively.

Char kicked me under the table. “Really, Percy,” she scolded, though I could tell she only meant it jokingly.

“So… you ready to move on to phase two of the best first date ever?” I asked.

She sighed. “Lead the way.” We both stood up from the table.

“You don’t sound too excited.”

“No… I am. I just… I just want to talk about something,” she said.

“What’s that?”

“It’s about the night of the ball.”

“Ok…”

“I-I still feel like I need to apologize. And thank you.”

“For what? Getting sick? That’s not your fault.”

“More for getting myself sick. I wanted to apologize for dragging you into my… mess of a state. And also thank you for… being there.”

I cupped her face in my hands. “I’ll always be there when you need me, Charlotte.” I stepped back quickly. What was I thinking. I’ll always be there for her? That sounds like commitment. I have never been a commitment kind of guy, so what was I doing now? I really needed to get my feelings sorted out.

Charlotte raised her eyebrows slightly. “What’s wrong?” She asked.

“N-nothing… umm… This way.” I grabbed Char’s hand to pull her with me to our next destination. I led her this time to a gazebo that was just out of sight from the garden table. I had decorated the gazebo with lights similarly to the table, and set up flowers in and around the gazebo.

“Here we are!” I exclaimed.

Charlotte stared at the gazebo and smiled. She squeezed my hand. “It’s gorgeous.”

I had been watching her reaction, and the moment her eyes lit up at seeing the gazebo I felt a tug in my chest that seemed to want me to be even closer in proximity to Charlotte. Not that I would ever complain about something like that. I smiled at her. “Yes you are.”

She looked at me and started laughing. “That was incredibly cheesy.”

I smiled. “You know you love it.”

“I tolerate it,” she said, trying to act serious, but we both knew she loved my cheesiness.

I rolled my eyes. “Come on,” I said, pulling her into the gazebo. “So… I know we just had ball, but…” I held out my hand and bowed overdramatically. “May I have this dance?”

Charlotte barely contained her smile. “You may.”

I twirled her around once before settling into a simple swaying motion of dance. “So. How are you liking your first date ever? Is it everything you ever dreamed it would be?”

“I don’t think anyone in their right mind dreams of this. A prince, flowers, a gazebo… Most girls give up on that.”

“So what I’m hearing is that it’s better than you ever imagined,” I said with a grin.

She smiled softly. “Yeah, Percy, that’s it.”

I couldn’t help the smile that bloomed on my face. I just… liked holding Charlotte in my arms. “So… tell me something nobody knows about you.”

“Nobody?”

“Nobody,” I repeat.

“I got a letter from my father the other day…”

“Your father?”

“I haven’t seen or heard from him in seven years. And I just got a letter.”

“What… what did it say?”

“That he saw me on TV. Pretty much exactly what you’d expect from an estranged parent when they make contact out of the blue.”

I couldn’t tell what her thoughts on the matter were, so I decided to ask. “Is this… a good thing or bad?”

She took a deep breath. “That’s what I’m still trying to decide. I’m not mad at my father for leaving. I just… didn’t expect him to contact me. I was never one to let my emotions show. I’m learning.”

“Well… let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

“You’re sweet, but I’m okay. I always am.”

“Of course you are. So… this is basically all I had planned for our date. We can just stay out here for as long as you want, or move on to a phase three of your choosing.”

“My choosing?” She asked.

“Yeah, you know… if you wanted to head up to my room for the rest of the night or something,” I suggested with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes. “Oh God.” She laughed, a glint in her eye. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to tire you out. Don’t you have princely stuff to attend to tomorrow?”

“Nah, no princely stuff. I do have a…” I cleared my throat before continuing. I wasn’t even a hundred percent sure I wanted to continue. I’d almost forgotten about my plans for the next day anyway. “… date… with Aricia.”

Charlotte dropped her hand and took a step back from me. “A date?”

“Uhh…” I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. “Yeah…”

“With Aricia?”

“Yep. That’s what I said.”

“Huh.” She took another step back, and I felt like my heart was leaving with her. It physically hurt. “Okay.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. I’m just-just a little confused.” She seems more upset than her words make it seem.

“About what?”

“I just didn’t realize a few things. My mistake.”

I rolled my eyes. She didn’t answer my question. “What didn’t you realize?”

“You. Y’know you had me for a second there. I was genuinely starting to think you were different. Guess I was wrong.”

No. No no no. This date coud not end this way. I had to flip things around somehow. “I care about you, Char. I thought that date was enough to prove it!” Yelling would not help, but I couldn’t help myself.

“Is that what you’ll tell her? Are there more girls or is this just some stupid ‘love triangle’?” She bit out the last two words as if they were poison in her mouth.

I took a breath. Trying to calm myself before responding. “I’m not going to lie, I’ve dated a LOT of girls. I don’t know what to tell you. I can’t tell you how I feel because I have no idea. There’s something about you that makes me feel… something I’ve never felt before. But Aricia… I don’t know about Aricia either…”

“Sorry. I just didn’t realize that when I decided to see things through with you and sort of resign myself from the Selection I’d still be competing for someone’s heart. I thought I was done. Here’s the thing, Prince Percy, go on your date. Get it out of your system. I don’t care. I don’t want to be an option. If I’m not the automatic choice, I don’t want to even be considered.” She turned and started walking away.

No. What was happening? She couldn’t leave. I couldn’t take it. My heart couldn’t take it. I ran to catch up to her. “Angel, wait…”

She turned and waved me away. “Don’t. I will not depend on some guy to be happy. I won’t give you that power. I won’t.” She kept walking, and this time I didn’t follow.

How had this night gone so wrong? I never meant for any of this to happen. I hadn’t meant for my casual dating to get serious at all and I thought that I could date both Charlotte and Aricia just for fun. I didn’t expect Charlotte to react so negatively to it, but I also didn’t expect to feel so hurt and empty at her leaving.

I returned to the palace and slept fitfully that night.

The next morning I knew I wasn’t feeling as awake and active as I should for a date, I had still promised Aricia that I would take her on the boat ride, and even though it was the reason Charlotte had gotten so mad and I had gotten so hurt by it, I was still determined to go on my date with Aricia. Maybe Aricia would help me forget about Charlotte altogether. But if I was being honest with myself, I wasn’t sure that was possible.

I knocked on Aricia’s door.

She yelled from the other side that she was coming in a minute, then opened the door. “Oh, hey Percy!” She exclaimed.

“Hey, you ready to go?” I asked.

She smiled. “Yeah!”

Her enthusiasm was starting to lift my spirits a bit. I felt the corners of my mouth lift into a smile. “Alright then, follow me.” I led her outside.

“How are you doing today?” She asked.

I hesitated. How was I today? I don’t even know. “I’m… good. And you?”

She shrugged. “I’m alright, thanks.”

I felt myself falling back into my flirtations, my most comfortable mask to hide behind. “Only alright? We’ll have to change that now, won’t we?” We finally came upon the dock, where the boat was waiting for us. “Here we are.”

Aricia smiled at me. She opened her mouth to reply, but looked at the boat in awe. “Oh, wow. The yacht is huge!”

I shrugged. “We have a bigger one actually, but I figured the little one would be nice for the two of us.”

She nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that’s true. I wouldn’t want to get lost in there!” She laughed.

I watched her excitement and good mood and smiled. Aricia was pretty good at lightening my mood. “Right. Anyway, come on aboard!” I led the way onto the gangplank.

She smiled and followed me. “It’s so cool here!”

“Yeah. Here, why don’t you take a seat there while I pull away from the dock. Then once we’re in the open water I’ve got something else to show you.”

“Alright then!” She said as she sat down.

I pulled down my sunglasses from where they were resting atop my head and started driving the boat away from the dock. “It should be just a few minutes here, and then we’ll be all set.”

She looked around curiously. “Sounds great! Have you ever driven a boat before?”

Shouldn’t she have asked me that before we got on the boat with no one else to drive the boat? Oh well. “Of course I have! I’m fully licensed and everything!”

She laughed and sighed in relief. “Phew! It’s good to know that you’ve got everything in control! I have a book that I still haven’t finished yet, which I’d like to!” She laughed.

We finally reached far enough into the ocean that I didn’t need to be at the wheel anymore, so I set it on a sort of autopilot and stepped away. “Alright here we go. We’re far enough into the water that the waves shouldn’t be too bad, and there aren’t any other boats so we can just let this cruise for a while. Come over here.” I walked over to an indoor area where there was a table covered in food.

 “Cool! Wow, this all looks great!” Aricia said.

“Yep. “Had the kitchens prepare it all for us this morning.”

She smiled. “Wow, thanks! The chefs at the palace are so talented,” she said as she took a seat.

“Yes, they are. So… what’s new with you?”

She grinned. “Nothing much really. I’ve figured out the fasted route from my room to the kitchens, so all my hallmates are happy about that. Overally, I’m just trying to soak up all the experiences of my stay here! How about you?”

I thought again about my date with Charlotte. How perfect I had tried to make everything, and yet, nothing turned out right. I still couldn’t understand how everything had gone so wrong so fast. Oh wait, yes I could. It was because of this. Right here. Where I was. Who I was with. I looked back up at Aricia and realized I shouldn’t be thinking about that. I should be focused on her.

“I’ve been… um…” I shrugged. “You know, the usual.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I get it.”

I sighed and frowned at Aricia. I couldn’t keep up the charade any longer. It wasn’t fair to Aricia to be on a date with her but thinking of another girl. “Aricia… there’s… something I need to tell you.”

She looked up, concerned. “Yeah?”

“I… can’t do this anymore. It’s not fair for me to lead you on like this when… when I can’t stop thinking of someone else.”

I realized we were in the middle of the ocean, which is probably one of the worst possible places you could break up with someone, since they had nowhere to go to get away from the person breaking up with them.

Aricia smiled and nodded. “It’s alright! “It’s not fair of me to keep you tied down when you love someone else.” She paused. “It’s Charlotte, isn’t it?”

I nodded. “I can’t get her out of my head. I… I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. I’m so sorry you got caught up in this, Aricia. I don’t want to hurt you… I just… don’t know what to do.”

I stood up and walked to the edge of the boat to watch the waves, Aricia following behind me.

  “Hey, hey, hey, it’s alright! Don’t beat yourself up over it! Sure, I’m not going to lie, I’m hurting now, but I’ll be better soon. And it’s not your fault, you were just trying to find who you love, and you found her!”

My voice was barely above a whisper as I said, “I’ve never been in love before… is this what it feels like?” It feels like pain. It feels like being deserted. I wasn’t sure I wanted to feel like this if this was love. “And even if I do love her, I’ve completely ruined it after last night.” I buried my head in my hands.

She placed a hand on my shoulder gently. “Neither have I, but from what I’ve read, love follows you around everywhere. You think about it when you’re running, to when you’re trying to sleep at night. Love is a feeling that, when you realize that you feel it, completely overpowers everything else. And why, what happened last night?”

“I… mentioned that I had a date with you today, and she kinda freaked out on me. Rightfully so, I think.”

She nodded. “Yeah, if I were in her position, I would have done the same. But I won’t let your love be ruined because of me. You should go talk to her, Percy, because if your love is real, it’ll survive. And seeing the way that you’re acting right now, I’d bet everything that it’s real.”

“What do I do?”

She turned to look at me fully. “You go find her, and tell her that we’re just friends, because that’ll probably make her feel better. And if you’re comfortable, express your feelings, because girls like hearing the truth.”

“Right now?”

She looked at me like I was crazy for not knowing that I should go immediately. “Yeah, of course right now! Go get your woman, Percy Schreave!”

“Right.” I ran to the helm and started to floor it to make the boat head toward shore as fast as possible. “Hold on tight!” It started to pour rain as I sped to shore. I yelled to Aricia over the sounds of the rain. “Get inside! Stay out of the rain!”

She grabbed onto the railing of the side of the ship. “There’s no point! I’m already drenched anyways!”

The boat stopped at the dock and I quickly tied it up, jumping off and then running toward the palace. I ran all the way to the palace and then up to Charlotte’s room. I knew my mother would bite my head off if she saw the trail of rainwater I was dripping behind me, but I couldn’t care about that. I just needed to see Charlotte and fix my mess.

I reached her door and suddenly stopped. What if she didn’t want to see me? What if I’d already ruined everything? I hesitantly knocked on her door.

“I said I wasn’t seeing anybody tonight!” She called out.

“Please?” I say through the door.

The door opened quickly. “What do you want?”

“I… wanted to apologize. For yesterday.”

“No.” She started to close the door, but I held my hand out to stop it.

“Wait. Just hear me out. I’m sorry I couldn’t make up my mind about things yesterday. I’ve never put that much thought into how my actions affect other people. What I said yesterday about not knowing how I feel about you was true. But I… went on my date with Aricia today and I realized that I don’t feel the same about her as I do about you. I… don’t know for sure what this means but I can’t stand the thought of you being angry with me. Of you… not forgiving me.” I looked at her pleadingly, begging her to forgive me.

Charlotte tried to close the door again, but I stopped it once more.

“What the hell? I bare my soul to you and you won’t even think about it?”

She swings the door open to look at me. “I am thinking about it. I’m thinking about a lot. Too much.”

I hesitated. “…And?” I ask softly, worried about her judgement. She has to forgive me. She has to. I don’t know what I’ll do if she doesn’t.

“How do I know you’re not going to change your mind again? How do I know there won’t be other girls you need to go check out first?”

“I won’t. I promise. There’s no other girl for me than you. I… I think I love you, Charlotte.” I can hear my voice break as I say it.

She covered her face with her hands. “Don’t say that!”

“Why not? It’s true!”

“How? How do I know you’re not lying?”

I softened. “Would I have cut my date with Aricia short to run through the rain and all the way up here to tell you I want to be with you and only you, if it weren’t true?”

“I don’t know… maybe?” She said softly, “I don’t know what to expect from you. I hate it.”

“Please. Tell me what I can do to fix this. I’ll do anything.”

She looked down. “You’re drenched.”

“It’s pouring rain outside.”

“You ran here?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t wait another second to talk to you.”

She closed her eyes. “Fine.”

I try to stop my heart from getting its hopes up, but it’s so hard. I whisper, “What?”

“Fine. I’ll try.” She kicked at the ground. “I’ll try to trust you. I’ll give this—us a shot.”

“You will?”

She finally looked back up at me. “I will.”

I smiled. “Great.”

“Percy?”

“Yes, angel?”

“Are you going to kiss me?”

My heart lurches in my chest. I never thought I’d hear her ask me that. I may have said that I wanted to be her first kiss, but I was never going to kiss her unless she absolutely wanted me to. “Do you want me to kiss you?”

She grabbed my collar and lifted herself onto her toes. “I’d love for you to.”

I grinned. “Excellent.” I cupped her face in my hands and lowered my mouth to finally kiss her. Charlotte wrapped her arms around my neck.

She pulled away slowly. “You’re drying up a bit.” She laughed.

I looked down and saw that my clothes were a little drier, but mostly because a lot of the water had transferred to Charlotte. “I guess so.” I looked back at Char. “I guess… I should probably head back to my room now… unless you want me to stay.” I winked at her, fully expecting her to refuse. I simply had to suggest it because, well… this is me we’re talking about.

“Do you want to stay?” She asked.

I blinked in surprise. “Of course I want to… if you’ll let me.”

She played with my hand. “I’m letting you…”

I walked further into the room and kicked off my shoes. I pulled Char with me over to her bed. “Come here, then.” I sat at the edge of the bed for a moment before lying down and making room for her.

“You’re going to sleep in your clothes?” She asked.

“Yeah… unless you’d rather me take them off?”

“You’re getting my bed wet.” I had some responses in mind, but I wasn’t even planning on saying anything when she covered my mouth with her hand “Don’t even say it.”

I gently removed her hand from my mouth. “So… is that a yes you want me to take off my wet clothes?”

She chuckled. “You may do as you please. Leaving a few layers would be wise though.”

“Fine. Since you asked.” I stood up and slowly pulled off my shirt, never breaking eye contact with Charlotte. I then moved on to my pants, smirking as I lowered them. When I was left in nothing but my boxers, I climbed back onto the bed and leaned over Charlotte. “Is this better?”

She cracked up with laughter. “What was that?”

“What was what?”

“It felt like a strip tease.”

“Well, I definitely didn’t expect to be stripping for you so soon in our relationship, but… you did ask.”

“I’ve already stripped in front of you. It was only fair.”

“It’s not like I saw anything then.”

“I didn’t see anything a tabloid hasn’t published,” she said, trailing a finger across my arm.

I watch the movement of her finger carefully. “That’s true,” I agree absently.

Her finger trails upward to trace my jaw. “What happens now?”

I smile sleepily at her. “Now… you get some sleep, angel.”

She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and slipped her hand into mine. “I think you’re right.” She shifted down into the covers of the bed to get more comfortable.

“Of course I am.” I pulled her closer to me so she was sleeping in my arms. “Good night, Char.”

“Goodnight,” she said, so silently I thought she was already half asleep.

“Is there a music room in this palace?” I asked my maids, turning to look at them, forgetting that they were fixing my hair. 

“Lady Aricia!” one of them scolded, making me turn back to face the mirror. I saw my blonde locks were lightly curled, the opposite of what they normally were; pin straight. My maids had applied a light coat of makeup to my face, and got me dressed into a pale blue dress and blue ballet flats. 

I asked my previous question again, and they all nodded, which made me happy. I havent played a piano since I was back home, and Liv ((ooc; Liv is her music loving friend from back home in Lakedon)) would not appreciate that I haven’t practiced at all. 

I went through one of my suitcases, and pulled out a book of waltzes that I was learning from, then I started walking to the music room. Once I was in the hallway, I realized that I actually didnt know where the music room was. I shook my head at my stupidity, and made my way to ask an older looking guard. 

“Excuse me, sir,” I said, walking up to him. 

“Yes?” he asked, impatiently. 

Wow, I guess somebody didn’t have patience

I resisted rolling my eyes at him, and asked, “Do you know where the music room is?” 

He nodded, and gestured to go down the hallway, so I obliged, picking up the excess fabric from my dress and walking down the hallway. I kept walking down the hallway, peeking through all the doors, until I saw one with a piano inside. 

Bingo!

I turned the knob of the door and walking in, making sure I wasn’t interrupting anyone else’s practice session. One thing I learnt from Liv was that musicians didnt like their practice interrupted. 

When I walked in, I was in awe. The room was ornately decorated, with various instruments lining the walls, and a beautiful black concert grand piano in the middle of the room. 

I made my way towards the piano, set my music down on the stand, and sat down, opening the book to the waltz that I was working on. 

I flipped the pages, before landing on the ‘Waltz in B Minor, by Chopin’. 

Perfect. 

I ran my fingers over the ivory keys, playing the piece until i got lost into the rhythm of the music, until I reached a certain portion of the piece which I could not play. My playing stopped abruptly, and I tried playing the section that I was having difficulties with, but it was to no avail. No matter how I tried, I kept stumbling over that particular part. 

“Ugh, this part isn’t working out the way I wan’t it to!” I exclaimed, and started over the piece. 

While I was playing through my favourite part, I heard someone talking, but I ignored it, immersing myself into the music. Just then, I heard a throat clear, and I stopped playing to look up, and I saw Prince Percy standing by the doorway, leaning against the doorframe. 

“Oh hey, I was just looking for you,” he said, walking further into the room. before stopping by the piano. 

I looked up at him, incredulously, “Oh, hi. You were looking for me?” I asked. 

He nodded, “Of course, we never got to finish our conversation from yesterday”

I smiled, remembering our conversation, “Oh yeah, so what did you want to talk about?” I asked, pivoting on the bench to face him. 

At that, his lazy grin had broke out into a full fledged smirk, “ I was just wondering...” he said, trying to draw my attention. 

Well, you’ve got to try harder than that, Percy 

I smirked back at him, “You were wondering?” I drawled, and laughed at the look on his face. It was a mixture of arrogance and.. something I couldn’t quite place my finger on. 

“Would you like to go on a boat ride with me? On the family yacht sometime?” I asked, grinning with overconfidence. 

Well, it would be a shame to end this charade! Lets keep it going for a bit longer...

I kept the smirk on my face, enjoying the dynamic between us, “oh, man, this is such a hard decision!” I exclaimed, gauging Percy’s reaction. His face was contorted into an arrogant smirk, his bluegreen eyes glimmering in amusement. 

“Well if it’s such a hard decision, maybe I’ll just go,” he said, raising his eyebrows and turning around at the speed of a turtle. 

I stood up, and let a loose chuckle pass through my lips, “Alright, Mr. Schreave, it’s not that hard of a decision,” I laughed, “I’ll go with you on this ‘boat ride’” I said, putting air quotations around ‘boat ride’, “But the better be the best part” I added, winking at the last part. 

He turned around, his trademark smirk gracing his lips, “Great. And it will be”

I smiled, “Thats nice. So I heard you play the piano as well?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. 

He nodded, running his hand over the roof of piano, smiling softly, “Yeah, a bit. So, what were you working on before?” he asked, looking back up at me, his eyes piercing through my own. 

“Well, I have a friend back home named Olivia,” I started, “and she was a really good musician, so one day, she dared me to learn this piece in a month, and its called ‘Waltz in B Minor’, by Chopin, and I can play the entire thing, except for a small section!” I laughed, thinking about Olivia and the face she’d be giving me if I told her that I was talking to one of the Princes of Illea about the piano, “if it were anyone but her daring me, I may have given up, but to give her that satisfaction? Never”

He nodded, smiling, “Hmm, let me see if I can help,” he said, and sat down on the piano, skimming through the piece, then starting playing, and I was floored. 

Wow

He played beautifully, paying attention to all the dynamics, tempo markings, and is feel was beautiful. 

When he finished playing, he turned to look at me, “You’re trying to get something like this, right?” he asked, and I nodded, still in awe about his playing. 

“Wow, you are really good! Well, I probably didn’t need to tell you that,” I said, laughing to distract him from the light blush that spread across my cheeks. 

He looked shocked at me compliment, and smiled, “Really? I didn’t think that I did that well...” he trailed off, but then refocused, “Well, anyways, so what specifically do you need help on?” he asked

I turned to the score, and pointed to a section, “Well, in the second page, there is a fast section and the fingering is a bit weird. I was trying to figure out a better alternative but so far nothing has been working”

I nodded, analysing the score before turning to look back at me, “Hmm... why dont you try playing just that section really slowly first so you can get the hang of it?” he suggested. 

I nodded, thinking about his fairly basic suggestion, before realising that he was right. I was throwing myself headfirst into the piece, so of course I wouldn’t be able to learn everything! I shook my head at myself, and turning to look at him. 

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I’ll try it! Thanks! I’m so happy that the palace has a music room! I always had to go to my Liv’s house to practice because I didn’t own a piano of my own, I only have a guitar...” I trailed off, smiling about the memories of my life before the selection

He nodded, “Yeah, the piano here is pretty nice...”

I smiled, and decided that I’d try to get know him a bit more. There was something elusive about him that I wanted to figure out. 

“So, how are you feeling about the selection so far?” I asked, “It must be weird having 35 random girls walking around your house...” I trailed off, trying to judge his reaction, and from the smirk that quickly overtook his features, I guessed that he had no problems with that many girls walking around his house. 

“I think its been pretty sweet so far,” he drawled, winking at me. 

I smirked, rolling my eyes at my assumption being correct. “That sounds great for you,” I said, laughing. 

He nodded, “it is pretty great”

I smiled, trying to get to the bottom of this prince, “So, tell me a bit about yourself, Percy! Are you really like what everyone says? Or is there more to the man behind the mask” I said, with a smile. 

He shrugged, “I like to think I’m a pretty open book. What you see is what you get.” he said, nonchalantly. 

I smirked, “Thats nice, so what do I get then?” I asked, trying to hide my surprise at where my flirty behaviour was coming from. 

He smirked back at me, making me feel like I was in a chick flick, “That depends, what do you want?” I asked, lowering his voice. 

I laughed at the irony of my position. Two months ago, if you told me that I would be flirting with one of the princes of Illea, I’d have probably asked you if you were drunk. But now... “That depends on what you’re willing to give me” I said, with a wink. 

His eyes glittered with amusement, as he said, “For now... a private boat ride in the family yacht”

I grinned, “Alright, that sounds wonderful” I exclaimed, smoothing down the front of my dress, trying to calm my nerves. Who could predict that my first ever date would be with none other than Percy Schreave? Certainly not me. 

“So...” he started, directing my attention back to him, “The boat ride. Does three days from now sound good? I need at least a little time to arrange things.”

I nodded, smiling, “That sounds great! I’ll be counting the days, Mr. Schreave”

He smiled back a genuine smile, “I’ll see you then” he said, his eyes lingering on mines for a second too long before walking away. When the door closed, I released the breath I didn’t know that I’d been holding. 

Wow

I shook my head, trying to clear away the daze that I had been in, and turned back to the piano. As I played some more pieces, and walked up to my room to prepare for dinner, there was one thought that never left my mind;

I couldn’t even tell you what I was looking for until I found it.

             I just felt this sudden urge to explore the palace, not that there is any inch of it left that I haven’t seen. I just needed to walk around it. When I heard the piano playing in the music room, I felt that same compulsion leading me inside. I peeked my head into the room.

           “Is someone in here?” I fully looked into the room and saw Aricia sitting on the bench. “Oh hey, I was just looking for you,” I said, even though I hadn’t thought I was looking for her. It was only once I found her that I realized I did want to speak with her.

           Aricia jumped in shock at the sound of my voice. She turned around to look at me. “Oh, hi, Prince Percy! You were looking for me?”

           I grinned as I sauntered closer to her. “Of course. We never got to finish our conversation from yesterday.”

           She smiled shyly. “Oh yeah… so what did you want to talk about?”

           “I was just wondering…” I began slowly, smirking.

           She raised her eyebrows. “You were wondering…” She laughed.

           “Would you like… to go on a boat ride with me? On the family yacht sometime,” I grinned, knowing she couldn’t and wouldn’t refuse. I’d already promised Char a romantic date, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t do the same for more girls. And Aricia was… intriguing. And entertaining, at least so far.

           She smirked. “Oh, wow, what a hard decision!”

           I could tell she was being sarcastic, but I decided to play with her. Nobody said no to Percy Schreave. I began to turn around slowly. “Well, if it’s such a hard decision, maybe I’ll just go.”

           She stood up quickly. “Okay, Mr. Schreave, it’s not that hard. I’ll go on this boat ride.” She smiles and smooths out her dress. “But the food better be killer.” And then she had the audacity to wink at me. That’s my thing. She can’t steal my thing.

           I smirked. Obviously she’d say yes. “Great. And it will be.” I don’t half-ass anything. If I say a date will be fantastic, it will blow your freaking mind.

           Aricia just smiled. “That’s nice. So… I heard you play the piano.”

           “Yeah, a bit. So, what were you working on before?”

           “Well, my friend back home a really good musician, so she dared me to learn this piece in a month, and its called 'waltz in b minor' by chopin, and it’s really bothering me!” She laughed, and it’s such a cute laugh, full of life and hope. “Well, I'd totally give up, but to give her that satisfaction?” She smirked as she finished, “never!”

           I smiled at how funny she is. So… innocent. I sat down at the piano next to her. “Hmm, let me see if I can help. You’re trying to do something like this right?” I began playing, not thinking much about it, just letting my fingers do all the work. When I finished playing, I looked up at Aricia in question, silently asking if that’s what she was looking for.

           She stared at me in awe. “Wow, you really are good! Well, I probably didn’t need to tell you that,” she laughed. “And yeah, I was trying to get something like that!”

           “Really? I didn’t think I did that well… well anyway, what specifically do you need help on?”

           “Well, in the second page, there is a fast section, and the fingering is a bit weird, I was trying to figure out a better alternative but so far nothing has been working.”

           “Hmm… why don’t you try playing just that section really slowly first so you can get the hang of it?” I knew it was really simple advice, but sometimes the simplest solutions are the best, and sometimes they’re the ones overlooked. And I knew all too well about getting in over your head on a piece of music. Sometimes you just try too hard and end up just making it worse for yourself.

           Aricia thought about it for a minute. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, I’ll try it. Thanks! I'm so happy that the palace has a music room! I always had to go to my friend’s house to practice because I didn’t own a piano of my own, I only have a guitar.”

           “Yeah, the piano here is pretty nice…” I said.

           “Yeah... so how are you feeling about the selection that’s happening? It must be weird having 35 random girls walking around your house...” She trailed off as though waiting for my reaction before continuing.

           “I think it’s been pretty sweet so far,” I said with a smirk.

           She smirked back. “That sounds great for you.”

           “It is pretty great,” I agreed.

           “Yeah...” she smiled. “So tell me a bit about yourself, prince Percy! Are you really like what everyone says? Or is there more behind the mask you wear for the public?”

           I shrugged. “I like to think I’m a pretty open book. What you see is what you get.”

           She smiled. “That’s nice.” Then smirked. “So what do I get then?”

           I smirked. “That depends, what do you want?”

           Aricia laughed. “That depends on what you’re giving me!”

           I sighed, seeing that this was just going in circles. “For now… a private boat ride in the family yacht.”

           She smiled. “Alright, that sounds wonderful!”

           “So… three days from now? I need a little time to prepare things.”

           “Sounds great! I’ll be looking forward to it, Mr. Schreave.”